BASTA: Petit and Giants Dominate All Facets in 5-1 Win

((HT: BASTA/Ben Leonard))

The Arizona Diamondbacks stood no chance on Tuesday against a Giants squad that controlled the game all night long. Joe Panik led the charge offensively, going five for five, all five being singles. He received a standing ovation from an announced sellout crowd of 41,683 after his fifth hit, coming the eighth inning on a hard ground ball single up the middle. Panik is the first Giants’ second baseman 23 or younger to record five hits in a single game since Tito Fuentes in 1966. He is hitting .463 in his last ten home games. His five hits brought his average up to .327, going along with a 124 wRC+ in his rookie season. Despite making his debut in late June, (technically May 22nd with the suspended game) Panik is making a late push for National League Rookie of the year. Panik has a 1.5 WAR in roughly two and a half months of play, while front-runner Billy Hamilton has posted a 3.4 WAR while playing all season long. He is likely a dark-horse candidate at best because of his lack of time in the big leagues, but his contributions have been a driving force in the Giants’ resurgence.

Here's Panik after the game talking about his five-hit night
((HT: CSN Bay Area))


Angel Pagan also had a huge night, which will go largely unnoticed because of Panik’s historic night. Pagan went 4 for 5 with three runs scored. He led off the game for San Francisco with a single, later scoring on Andrew Susac’s walk with the bases loaded to give the Giants a early 1-0 lead. The man of the night, Joe Panik said of Pagan on Giants Postgame Live, “When he’s on first base, he makes my job so much easier because with his speed, pitchers are afraid of him stealing bases, so I get good pitches to hit.”

The Giants chased Arizona starter Wade Miley after only two innings. Miley had no command whatsoever, walking four and giving up five hits, unlike his counterpart, Yusmeiro Petit. Petit was absolutely dominant, going the distance, allowing only one run on an Ender Inciarte solo homer, a splash hit into McCovey Cove. He made quick work of the lowly D’Backs, needing only eighty-four pitches in those nine masterful innings, giving up only four hits, while walking none. The complete game was the second of his career, the other one also coming against Arizona at home, when the D’Backs were down to their last strike in a perfect game bid. He threw 81% of his pitches for strikes, keeping Arizona off-balance all night long, striking out nine. Petit will receive less recognition than he deserves for his ace-like work Tuesday because of Panik, but the Giants don’t care about perception. Yusmeiro Petit has been an invaluable replacement for the struggling Tim Lincecum in the starting rotation, and along with Panik, is a key piece in the Giants’ playoff push.

Here's the short version of Petit's strike outs
((HT: MLB.com))


Notes: Josh Collmenter (10-7, 3.81) will take on Ryan Vogelsong (8-10, 4.06) in an ESPN national broadcast game at 7:00 PST on Wednesday. The Giants have won ten out of their last thirteen games, and with the Dodgers’ loss Tuesday, move two games back of LA in the NL West race.